Monday - November 04, 2019
My Jesus, how good it is to love you!
Let me be like your disciples on Mount Tabor, seeing nothing else but you, my Savior.
Let us be as two friends, neither of whom can bear to offend the other. Amen.
~~ Saint john vianney
TODAY'S READINGS
November 4 2019
Memorial of Saint Charles Borromeo, Bishop
Lectionary: 485
Reading 1ROM 11:29-36
Brothers and sisters:
The gifts and the call of God are irrevocable.
Just as you once disobeyed God
but have now received mercy
because of their disobedience,
so they have now disobeyed in order that,
by virtue of the mercy shown to you,
they too may now receive mercy.
For God delivered all to disobedience,
that he might have mercy upon all.
Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God!
How inscrutable are his judgments and how unsearchable his ways!
For who has known the mind of the Lord
or who has been his counselor?
Or who has given him anything
that he may be repaid?
For from him and through him and for him are all things.
To God be glory forever. Amen.
The gifts and the call of God are irrevocable.
Just as you once disobeyed God
but have now received mercy
because of their disobedience,
so they have now disobeyed in order that,
by virtue of the mercy shown to you,
they too may now receive mercy.
For God delivered all to disobedience,
that he might have mercy upon all.
Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God!
How inscrutable are his judgments and how unsearchable his ways!
For who has known the mind of the Lord
or who has been his counselor?
Or who has given him anything
that he may be repaid?
For from him and through him and for him are all things.
To God be glory forever. Amen.
Responsorial PsalmPS 69:30-31, 33-34, 36
R. (14c) Lord, in your great love, answer me.
But I am afflicted and in pain;
let your saving help, O God, protect me.
I will praise the name of God in song,
and I will glorify him with thanksgiving.
R. Lord, in your great love, answer me.
"See, you lowly ones, and be glad;
you who seek God, may your hearts revive!
For the LORD hears the poor,
and his own who are in bonds he spurns not."
R. Lord, in your great love, answer me.
For God will save Zion
and rebuild the cities of Judah.
They shall dwell in the land and own it,
and the descendants of his servants shall inherit it,
and those who love his name shall inhabit it.
R. Lord, in your great love, answer me.
But I am afflicted and in pain;
let your saving help, O God, protect me.
I will praise the name of God in song,
and I will glorify him with thanksgiving.
R. Lord, in your great love, answer me.
"See, you lowly ones, and be glad;
you who seek God, may your hearts revive!
For the LORD hears the poor,
and his own who are in bonds he spurns not."
R. Lord, in your great love, answer me.
For God will save Zion
and rebuild the cities of Judah.
They shall dwell in the land and own it,
and the descendants of his servants shall inherit it,
and those who love his name shall inhabit it.
R. Lord, in your great love, answer me.
AlleluiaJN 8:31B-32
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples,
and you will know the truth, says the Lord.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples,
and you will know the truth, says the Lord.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
GospelLK 14:12-14
On a sabbath Jesus went to dine
at the home of one of the leading Pharisees.
He said to the host who invited him,
"When you hold a lunch or a dinner,
do not invite your friends or your brothers or sisters
or your relatives or your wealthy neighbors,
in case they may invite you back and you have repayment.
Rather, when you hold a banquet,
invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind;
blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you.
For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."
at the home of one of the leading Pharisees.
He said to the host who invited him,
"When you hold a lunch or a dinner,
do not invite your friends or your brothers or sisters
or your relatives or your wealthy neighbors,
in case they may invite you back and you have repayment.
Rather, when you hold a banquet,
invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind;
blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you.
For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."
******************************
Eliminating Wrong Motives
Today's Gospel passage raises the question: What are my expectations when I do good? In other words: What are my motivations for doing what's right? Oftentimes, we do good deeds -- yes even the Lord's work -- more for what we can gain from it than for the sake of others. And oftentimes, this is unconscious.
To grow in holiness, we need to continually ask ourselves: How other-centered are my decisions and actions? How self-serving are they?
Usually, the clue that we're doing it for others more is our willingness to do it when it's a sacrifice. Our world today has moved far from the ethos of self-sacrifice, and we Christians have frequently moved with it.
There's nothing wrong with serving our own needs, nor with receiving good fruits from our good deeds. As Jesus says elsewhere, what we measure out is what gets measured back to us. We get blessed from blessing others. But if we do anything simply for the sake of receiving something back, our motive is unholy.
In today's example, Jesus isn't implying that we should not invite our friends to a dinner party unless they're incapable of returning the favor. That interpretation would be too literal and misses the point. The real message is that whatever we do, we should do it for the sake of love: We should do good to others solely for the sake of the benefit it will give to them. Whatever we receive back in return is a bonus.
Jesus is preaching the Golden Rule again (first mentioned in the Sermon on the Mount): Do to others would you would like them to do to you -- but not so that they will do the same for you. Do it because God's love is coming into the world through you.
How upset do you get when others treat you unkindly after you've been nice to them? The more unfair or unequal the give-and-take, the angrier we become and the more hurt we feel. If we work hard in our jobs and the boss gives a promotion to a lazy coworker, how quickly we complain about the injustice! If a priest disappoints us after we've been generous to the parish with our time or money, how quickly we reduce our donations!
By becoming conscious of our motives for doing good and our reactions to unequal give-and-take, we free ourselves from the enslavement of selfishness.
"You will receive your reward in the resurrection of the righteous." The fruit of this promise begins the moment that we decide to be like the resurrected one, Jesus, in our service to others. The reward for here and now is the grace that God gives us, which enables us to do whatever he asks, unselfishly, sacrificially, and generously.
Today's Prayer
My Lord Jesus: I ask You to heal me and free me from those attachments and disordered relationships that affect my freedom and my ability to open myself to Your love. Amen.
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God Bless You.....
The mother of Jesus promised St. Dominic that, “one day through the rosary & the scapular I shall save the world!”
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